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St. Andrew of Crete had no doubts about how this feast—the Birth of the Virgin Mary—should be observed. “Let all creation sing and dance and contribute its fullest measure of joy to the day’s celebration,” he urged. “Today heaven and earth join in a single festival and celebrate together, for today a shrine is fashioned for the world’s Creator! Today a new dwelling is readied by creatures for the Author of creation!”
Each of us is invited to join in this rejoicing. It was for our sake, too, that God chose Mary to be the mother of Jesus.
Most of us are very familiar with the Bible verse that says, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). It make us marvel at God’s plan of salvation in Christ—and rightfully so. But it’s also marvelous that God’s plan involved a sinless virgin mother to bring his Son into the world.
From one age to the next, God unfolded this plan with painstaking care. Jesus didn’t arrive on earth out of nowhere! God carefully chose, called, and formed just the right earthly parents for his Son. And even before them, he was guiding the development of…
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